East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952.
Often described as Steinbeck's most ambitious novel, East of Eden brings to life the
intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and their interwoven
stories. The novel was originally addressed to Steinbeck's young sons, Thom and
John (then 6½ and 4½ respectively). Steinbeck wanted to describe the Salinas Valley
for them in detail: the sights, sounds, smells, and colors.
The Hamilton family in the novel is said to be based on the real-life family of
Samuel Hamilton, Steinbeck's maternal grandfather.[1] A young John Steinbeck also
appears briefly in the novel as a minor character.[2]
According to his last wife Elaine, he considered this to be a magnum opus for
himself—his greatest novel.[3] Steinbeck stated about East of Eden: "It has
everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all
these years." He further claimed: "I think everything else I have written has been,
in a sense, practice for this."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_of_Eden

Chosen from a list compiled for this Challenge by Boris.